Heartbeats

Vertex Japan, a venture firm backed by Singapore state investor Temasek, has invested in Heartbeats, a startup that sells digital trading cards. The deal was reported exclusively by the Wall Street Journal. Financial terms and details of how the startup plans to use the funding were not disclosed in the report.

A father went to the emergency room after his smartwatch alerted him to an irregular heartbeat consistent with atrial fibrillation, and doctors went on to identify a heart condition requiring surgery. The case is being reported as another example of a consumer wearable flagging a serious cardiac problem early, prompting discussion about how often these alerts lead to real diagnoses.